The summer sun was hot at the Kensington Cattails Junior Open in South Lyon, but Northville’s Andrew Lack was hotter, firing a one-over-par 73 and shooting his first ace on the 160-yard 13th hole Friday, July 22.

“Right when I hit it, I didn’t think it was that great, but it was going straight to the pin with a little draw,” Lack said. “I didn’t see it going in because there is a hill in front of the flag. When I went up there and saw it in the hole, it was the best feeling ever in my golf career. I didn’t freak out, but I was smiling a lot.

“On the back nine, I was still hitting really good shots,” said Lack, who shot 37 on the front nine. “I actually followed my hole-in-one with a bogey; I was thinking about the hole-in-one. Then I ended up parring every hole after that,” added Lack, 16, who will be a junior in September.

An incoming sophomore, Sabo shot a one-over-par 37 on the front nine. “My putter stopped working a little bit on the back,” he said. “There were a lot of tricky holes, a lot of doglegs, and a lot of crazy slopes, plus the heat.”

In the girls’ 15-18-year-old division, Livonia’s Kristen Szabelski of Livonia dominated with strong putting — carding 19 putts on the front nine and 15 on the back — to take the win with an 85. It was a shot in the arm for the incoming Stevenson senior.

“I had a rough week last week, so I needed this to boost my confidence,” said Szabelski, who scored 44 on the front side. Szabelski improved as the day progressed. “On the back nine, I started off bogey, bogey, and then got a string of pars and then a birdie” for a 41.

Waterford’s Katie Boyd was runner-up with an 86. “I hit a lot of shots into the heather, but still made a lot of pars. I did that about four times,” said Boyd, who will compete for Saginaw Valley in the fall. “I only hit my driver twice, because the course is so short and has so many doglegs. I thought, ‘I’ll play small ball and see what happens.’”

In the boys’ 12-14-year-old age division, Northville’s Ashrith Mummadi, 12, won with a 95. He was all smiles. “It feels good; I’m really excited and pretty proud of myself. I made a 10-foot putt for par on a par three,” he said. “I had two pars today and only lost three balls, which is a record for me. The cattails and heather are kind of hard to avoid.

“There’s a lot of competition on the Kensington Tour, and the courses are not really easy, or really hard. I’ve made a lot of friends and I’ve played with a lot of good kids. There’s good competition,” Mummadi said.

Mike Maser of South Lyon and Catholic Central was runner up with 97. “I hit some amazing 3-woods. I hit my 3-wood further and straighter than my driver,” he said. “I holed a very long putt on the sixth hole for par.”

Damo Watson, 7, of Westland, won the nine-hole division with a 50. The highlight came on the fifth hole. “I sank a 30-foot putt for a double-bogey,” he said. “I also had a 160-yard drive out there on number six, and I had a 115-yard iron on hole number four.”

Garret Cashen, 10, of New Hudson shot 68 to win runner-up honors. “On number six and seven that are par threes, I hit pretty good shots,” Cashen said. “I got them up on the green for par or bogey. It was very hot, but not as hot as a volcano.”